LA Progressive: 8 November to 14 November 2009

The Black Men’s New “Little Black Book”. Changing the mindset of black men to see a doctor is a difficult one. Fear of doctors is tied to a vestige of slavery where black male illness was totally ignored. Distrusting doctors has a long history, even before the Tuskegee experiment. - Anthony Asadullah Samad

Think First About the Unemployed, Not the Politicians … and Act. What’s happening to the lives of the legions out of work – particularly the young men and women – has to take second place to the fortune of the President and his party. The human crisis would be real regardless of who is in the Oval Office and is what should move the President and the Congress to do the right thing. - Carl Bloice

Whose Nation? If Maria Shriver’s name or Oprah’s were not attached to this report, would it have attracted close cooperation with John Podesta’s Center for American Progress (CAP)? - Wendy Block

University of Phoenix’s Curious Take on the Law. Apollo recently announced that it expects to pay $80 million to settle a lawsuit brought by two former employees who allege that Phoenix defrauded the government’s student aid program by paying recruiters solely on the basis of enrollment, which is not allowed under Education Department rules. - Sharona Coutts

Black People: It’s Time to Nut Up or Shut Up. On any other occasion, had the Los Angeles Police Department arrested and booked a young Black female and then let her go in the middle of the night without her purse, car, or cell phone, in the middle of nowhere never to be seen again—Black people would be screaming off with their heads. - Jasmyne Cannick

PTSD Creates Fort Hoods Everywhere. In the aftermath of Fort Hood, more time spent on gratuitous anti-Arab and anti-Muslim scapegoating is more time that PTSD is not addressed among veterans and active-duty personnel. Additional Fort Hoods are in waiting. - David A. Love

Why Most Counterinsurgency Wars Fail. But isn’t there hope for Iraq and Afghanistan because opposition forces are divided and often unpopular? Not really. The problem in Iraq is that as U.S. forces draw down, the now reduced guerrilla war could turn into a civil war among the Sunni, Shi’ite, and Kurdish ethno-sectarian groups. In Afghanistan, Afghans regard the United States as a foreign occupier, are suspicious of the U.S. long-term military presence, do not support a surge in U.S. forces, do not think it will defeat the Taliban, and thus support negotiating with the insurgents. - Ivan Eland

How Alfred Nobel Made Rush Limbaugh’s Head Explode. And perhaps it’s also a “deed” to be assured of what will NOT be done – no more Gitmo, no more Gitmos to follow, no more torture, no more nukes, no more threats, no more whimsical invasions of ancient lands. - Robert Illes

Ashley Judd: Please, Population Control Is Not the Answer for Congo. Congo’s economy is not undermined by “unregulated fertility” rates. Why do these NGO’s feel they have the right to regulate birth rates? Civil society has been destroyed by decades of war and over a hundred years of exploitation of Congo’s wealth by international interests. - Georgianne Nienaber

House Health Care Bill a Mixed Bag for Immigrants . House members, particularly Rep. Nydia Velazquez and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, were able to successfully block an immigration-related motion to recommit by House Republicans—a motion with the intention of forcing a tough vote on immigration that, if passed, may have resulted in the bill’s defeat.Health care reform now moves to the Senate, where battles over the 5-year bar, verification systems, and unauthorized immigrants’ ability to purchase health insurance are likely to continue. - Michele Waslin

One on One with LAPD Chief-Designate Charlie Beck. Beck has some big shoes to fill, no doubt, but after meeting and speaking one-on-one with him, I think the LAPD is going to be okay. I wasn’t that sure beforehand, but I can tell you that Beck is, if nothing else, a sincere and humble guy with big ideas, who has a passion for a job in a city that at times is one heartbeat away from a full on race riot. – Jasmyne Cannick

End of the Line for the CDP Caucuses? Any political party solely dedicated to get out the vote (GOTV) or electioneering is . doomed. Today, tomorrow, soon. Ask the Republicans. Mickey Edwards, . former Republican Congressman from Oklahoma, has stated that the demise of the . Republican Party derives from the day that they decided to turn . the Party into an “incumbents-only” GOTV machine. - Brad Parker

Veterans Day: Dusty, Faded Surprise. But I remember him– every time a street person asks for money (I always give), when a man holds up a cardboard sign reading something like “Viet Nam vet. Will work for food,” when news stories cover veterans returned from Iraq and Afghanistan, struggling to cope with crippling injuries and PTSD. – Wendy Block

“He Knows When to Turn the Light Sabre On:” Obama and Washington One Year Later. Washington DC is so stuck in its traditions it is literally the land that time and technology forgot. Press galleries off the House and Senate floors are musty old museum chambers lined with musty leather couches, antiquated black wall telephones and 1940s era phone booths. One could envision reporters of that age bursting from the floor vote to call or Telex in their copy to the National desk then retire to a local tavern. - Denis Campbell

800,000 Americans Busted Annually for Pot. The drug war has also unleashed a torrent of racism in the form of unjust sentencing, which confines crack-cocaine users who are mostly black to prison for longer terms than powder snorters, who are mostly white. - Sherwood Ross

The Marshmallow Center of American Politics in the 21st Century. Recent political events dash the hope that Obama’s election has ushered in a post-racial nirvana. Both political parties understand that race is as relevant as ever. And in this curdling, partisan environment, both parties also recognize that the race card is never an ace. - Rich Benjamin

Is Health Care a Human Right? Since World War II the United States has gradually broadened its understanding of human rights for minorities, women, gays, and others. Is it not time to continue moving forward by now recognizing a right that most leading democracies and exponents of human rights have come to accept–the right to accessible and affordable health care? - Walter G. Moss

One Year Later: Unrest within the Obama Base. In fairness, Obama never promised progressive voters a rose garden. Genuine and far-reaching change requires sustained political organizing at the grassroots. It cannot be achieved by virtue of any election. – Norman Solomon

Low Voter Turnout: Are We Downsizing Democracy? The voter turnout numbers are an embarrassment. Throughout the country in nonpresidential elections, less than 30 percent of voters turn out for elections. In presidential campaigns, billions are spent and the media does focus on … - Craig Williams

Death Panels in Perspective. As a longtime resident of Wasilla, Alaska, I wonder if my hometown will ever escape its current association with partisan politics in the minds of people elsewhere. More specifically, will the American public ever be … - Charles D. Hayes

The Goldilocks Principle and Afghan War Options. Maybe the Iraq debacle has dulled our senses but there should be something stunning about a general at this late date requesting 40,000 to 80,000 more American soldiers to be sent to Afghanistan. - Joseph Palermo

The Jazz Nightlight. The jazz and Blues scene in Los Angeles is hot. Young and old musicians get together in the diverse jazz clubs around the city to elaborate on the chord changes. The clubs light up the night with brilliant tunes from the past to creative newer melodies. - S. Blair Fox

The Campaign: The Audacity of Hope Did Not Die in Maine. If I have grandchildren, I have some hope that the world they enter will allow them to make the simple and profound choice to love whom they wish. Films like The Campaign will provide the historical blueprint and record of how the fight was waged, how battles were won–and lost. - Georgianne Nienaber

How to End Wars. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff has said that he’d like to see another $50 billion passed in another supplemental war spending bill in the next few months. This is money to fund an escalation that we are supposed to believe has not been decided upon yet. This must be stopped. - David Swanson

Did the Berlin Wall Really Come Down? The Reds responded to such ridicule with paranoia and increasingly strident attacks, claiming that their opponents were dishonest and morally corrupt. Red governments proclaimed that the moral bankruptcy of non-Red societies would lead inevitably to the collapse of all but the Red states. - Tom Hall

Oldest State Was “Test Run” for Repealing Prop 8. In Maine, we lost in ways that lay the groundwork for an eventual victory. Maine may be the oldest state in the nation, but California is 46th. It will only be a matter of time. – Paul Hogarth

HR 3962 Passes After Generations of Americans Ignored. Last night, the House of Representatives passed the Affordable Health Care for America Act, H.R. 3962. It’s being touted as a major step forward but for those who support Single Payer, it is anything but.. From … – Sharon Kyle.

Posted on November 15, 2009

Trackbacks

[…] Nydia Velazquez and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, were able to successfully block an immigration-related motion to recommit by House Republicans—a motion with the intention of forcing a tough vote on immigration that, if passed, …. HR 3962 Passes After Generations of Americans Ignored. Last night, the House of Representatives passed the Affordable Health Care for America Act, H.R. 3962 . It’s being touted as a major step forward but for those who support Single …This Post […]

Wellness

Carole Bartolotto: The problem with concluding that GMOs are safe is that the argument for their safety rests solely on animal studies. These studies are offered as evidence that the debate over GMOs is over. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Environmentalism

Margo McCall: There’s increasing evidence that adopting a plant-based diet is better for human health, the planet, and of course for the more than 9 billion animals that are killed for consumption each year in the U.S alone.